The 10

19

Luke hangs up after reporting his tip and realizes it's after two in the morning. He closes his laptop and practically crawls to his bed. Pulling his phone from the nightstand, he texts Isabella.

'Tell your friend not to get too comfortable with her escaped convict.'

                                                                                              ❥

That following morning, Kate wakes up. Yawning, she stretches, and her hand hits something. Looking down, she sees Christopher, sound asleep, next to her. Checking that she still has her clothes on, she sighs in relief before getting up and heading into her bathroom. Locking the door behind her, she does her business before starting her shower. She looks at herself in the mirror. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes baggy, and her face dotted with slight acne. She lifts her hand to the cabinet on the wall and pulls out her face wash cream. Applying it to her face, she takes her hair out of the messy bun and jumps into the warm, steaming shower.

Christopher wakes up, still half asleep; he reaches for Kate and finds the bed empty and cold. He quickly rises from the bed, suddenly wide awake. He sees her bathroom door is closed and hears the shower going. Rising from the bed, he quietly makes his way across the carpet. He reaches for the handle and jiggles it, and the knob doesn't budge. Knocking lightly, but hard enough for Kate to hear it, he calls out to her.
"Kate? Kate, you in there?"
Kate, who is currently in the middle of washing her hair, pauses her hands on her scalp and yells back. "Yeah."
"Well, you locked the door."
"Yeah, I wanted a little privacy before school." she shrugs, then realizes he can't see her, thankfully.
"Oh, no big deal. Just wanted to make sure you were okay," he says modestly.
"Thanks, but I'm fine."
Sighing, Christopher makes his way to the bed. He watches Kate's phone light up. Checking to make sure the shower is still going, he slides to her end of the bed and grabs it in one quick motion. Finding no passcode, he swipes, and the message instantly opens. Seeing it from Isabella, he decides to ignore it until he sees Luke's name mentioned. Curious, he figures out how to open it and reads it over.
'Oh my God, call me when you get this. Luke called some tip line and reported that he thinks Christopher is with you, hiding out at your house. He thinks you are helping him hide. Watch out.'
Christopher's face is red. He's fuming. Reaching over for his pants, he pulls the paper out of his pocket and studies Luke's address. Tonight, he would take another victim. But this time, it would be personal.
Kate emerges moments later. She's in a red, long towel, and her hair is moussed and curled. Avoiding eye contact with Christopher, she disappears into her closet and closes both doors. Christopher raises a brow but sighs. He's unsure of what he had done; they had just spent a romantic night together. Sure, nothing had happened, but he wanted to wait until Kate had made the first move, telling him that she was ready to take that next step. Moments later, Kate comes out. She's dressed in light blue skinny jeans, a white lace tank top, and is holding a leather jacket. Putting her jacket at the end of the bed, she disappears back to her closet for shoes. Coming out with laced flip flops, she puts them on, followed by her jacket.
She heads to her desk and saves her documents, despite most of them being printed and ready to be turned in today. Closing her laptop and plugging it into the charger, she grabs her bag and slips it over her shoulder. She grabs her keys from the desk and heads out-, never looking at Christopher. Christopher checks the alarm clock's time and decides he shouldn't risk another second under Kate's roof. Slipping on his clothes and tossing Kate's men's clothes into her closet, he slips out.
Halfway down the stairs, he hears keys entering the locks. Holding his breath, he dodges as quietly and quickly as possible back upstairs. Closing Kate's door, he hides behind it.
"Kate? Kate, have you left for school yet?" Someone he assumes is Kate's mother calls out. "Kate?" she knocks on the door and checks in. "Guess not," she mumbles and disappears.
Christopher waits a few moments and hears a door open, then close. Peeking his head out slightly, he sees a door that was once opened is now closed. Assuming her mother is going to be in there for a while, he makes his escape. Sneaking out the back, he jogs across Kate's street and disappears into his vehicle, pulling away quickly.
Meanwhile, Kate pulls into her assigned parking space and cuts her ignition. Isabella jogs up to her car and opens Kate's door. Kate turns, fist raised, and Isabella holds her breath.
"Jesus, it's just me." Isabella laughs lightly, following Kate as they head into the building. "You didn't answer my text." she whispers.
"What text?" Isabella grabs Kate's elbow, stopping her.
"Luke called the tip line. He told them that you're hiding Christopher out in your house. He texted me last night to tell you that you shouldn't get comfortable having Christopher around. He's pointing them towards you, telling them that you're in on it. I texted you to watch out." she finishes, taking a breath.
"What the fuck." Kate says, her face red and hot.
She storms into the school, Isabella close behind, telling her not to do anything stupid or make a scene, but Kate is blinded with rage. She spots Luke leaning against some locker, chatting up some poor newcomer. Walking faster, her flip-flops clattering against the floor. She comes up to the freshman.
"Beat it," she tells her.
The freshman, intimated by Kate's red face and age, scurries off with her eyesight to the floor.
"What the fuck?" Luke asks, crossing his arms over his chest. "I was like this close," he pinches his fingers together, not much room between them. "To getting her into my bed this weekend."
"I don't care." Kate grabs him by the front of his shirt and slams his body into the locker. "Why the hell would you lie to the police?"
"Because it's not a lie," Luke chuckles. "And you know it." he spits.
"You don't know shit. It's not true and now because of you, I'm probably going to be a suspect again, despite the fact that I was cleared."
"You were cleared because you're hot. And, again, you know it."
"I was cleared because I don't know where he is, and I didn't tell him to escape!" Kate fumes.
"Yeah, right. I saw the way he looked at you, and you looked at him the same way." Luke rolls his eyes. "You and he would've done anything, anything, to be with each other," he emphasizes.
"Kate, Kate, let's go," Isabella says.
Kate looks up and realizes several students are watching the scene. She notices a teacher quickly approaching and releases Luke. "Fuck you." she spits, storming away opposite the teacher's directions.